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Tag Archives: pardesonthemove

The following is a translation of the news article that appeared in Salom, the Turkish Jewish newspaper. Pardes visited Istanbul. Ten young people from the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, based in Jerusalem, has brought a brand new and different energy to the Jewish community last week in accompaniment of Dr. Rabbi Levi Cooper, their teacher. Continue Reading »

After a wonderful sleep at our host families’ homes, we were back up and exploring the community early this morning. We started the day with Shacharit and breakfast at the Ortaköy synagogue near where we are staying and then spent most of the morning and afternoon hopping in and out of different active and no Continue Reading »

We’re here! After weeks of meeting, planning programs, and discussing the history, politics, and culture of Turkey, we finally flew to Istanbul this morning to start our six-day journey exploring the city and working with the Jewish communities here. Once we landed, we hit the ground running with visits to the Istanbul Archaeology Museums, the Continue Reading »

“Hey, want to go to Turkey?” my friend asked me one day at school. My response was something along the lines of, “I don’t NOT want to go to Turkey…” But, when I found out about this incredible opportunity to travel with Rabbi Levi Cooper to Istanbul and meet and learn from the Jewish community Continue Reading »

On Friday we visited Ulus Jewish School in Ortakoy, where we presented interactive educational programs about Tu B’Shevat for elementary- and high-school students. Since I am a Torah lishma student and not part of the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators, I felt a bit nervous about stepping outside of my comfort zone and teaching in Continue Reading »

The Hahambashi, Chief Rabbi of Turkey, Rabbi Yitzchak Haleva, is quite a character. He’s not a big man, but his jutting beard, bright eyes, and fireball personality make him unforgettable. We had the honor of meeting with him on Friday, and were honored by his presence throughout shabbat. We stepped into his office on Friday, Continue Reading »

“Be flexible,” and “Prepare to make compromises” were common phrases at our Turkey trip planning meetings. Levi repeatedly informed us that the Turkish Jewish community is quite traditional and we, especially the women, would probably have to adjust our davening practices for the sake of the community. No problem, I thought. While I strongly value Continue Reading »

One of the most meaningful aspects of the trip has been connecting to the Turkish Jewish Community’s past, present, and future. Thursday was spent walking up and down the hilly, winding streets of Galata, where we took in the beauty of the Ashkenazi synagogue, the Italian synagogue, and Neve Shalom, Istanbul’s largest synagogue. We sang Continue Reading »

Today was an incredible reminder of how powerful a story can be. We had the privilege of visiting multiple synagogues today (Italian, Sephardi, Ashkenazi). Each Sefer Torah we looked at, each impeccably crafted stain glass window, and each siddur told a story I will never be able to fully grasp. I felt honored to be Continue Reading »

While yesterday, we spent much of our time remembering what was, today we really spent time getting to know the Jewish community in all its current glory. We had a chance to see many important synagogues in the Turkish Jewish community. We were blessed with the opportunity to have an audience with the Chief Rabbi Continue Reading »

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